ABUJA, Nigeria, December 5, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — ECOWAS officials and health experts from within and outside the region are meeting in Abuja to develop a Community Mobilization Plan of Action to boost the regional Malaria Elimination Campaign through the strengthening of the vector control strategy.The meeting, which opened on 2nd December 2013, seeks to generate ideas and strategies for effective community mobilization and buy-in to make the regional anti-malaria campaign a resounding success.In his opening speech, the ECOWAS Commission’s Vice President, Dr. Toga McIntosh gave an update on the Commission’s collaboration with Cuba and Venezuela to scale up…
Author: apofeed
PARIS, France, December 5, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The UN Security Council (UNSC) adopted a resolution today providing technical and financial support to MISCA, the African Union’s peacekeeping force currently being deployed in the Central African Republic (CAR). The resolution also authorized the deployment of more French troops to the country to help quell the escalating violence and inter-religious attacks.Given the complicated task of stabilizing the CAR, FIDH has repeatedly called for the immediate deployment of a UN-led peacekeeping mission to this country, but the UNSC did not authorize such a UN force at this time. Nevertheless, the UNSC…
DUBLIN, Ireland, December 5, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Minister for Trade and Development Joe Costello TD has launched a school rehabilitation programme in Uganda. The Minister launched the programme in Karamoja, the poorest area in the country during a visit to see the impact of Ireland’s support to Uganda’s most vulnerable communities and explore options to strengthen trade between Ireland and Uganda. The Irish Aid-funded Karamoja Primary Education Programme (KPEP) involves the rehabilitation of 21 primary schools in Karamoja, the poorest region in Uganda, where three quarters of the population lives below the poverty line and where literacy rates…
GENEVA, Switzerland, December 5, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Following attacks since 5am this morning in Bangui, Central African Republic, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams are responding and have treated wounded in hospitals in the city. Sylvain Groulx, the general coordinator of MSF in CAR, reports that around 65 wounded have been taken to the hospital Communautaire, 20 of them in critical condition, 8 have died. An MSF team has been dispatched to the hospital to support the staff. The volatile situation in Bangui means it is difficult to report a reliable number of dead and wounded at this time.…
MOGADISHU, Somalia, December 5, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (SRSG) for Somalia, Nicholas Kay, has strongly condemned a violent attack on Puntland government forces today. At approximately 11 am this morning, a suicide car bomber targeted Puntland forces in the port city of Bossaso; reports suggest that several people were killed and dozens injured in the attack. Puntland is in the midst of an electoral process that should lead to a new parliament this year and presidential elections in January 2014. “Such cowardly acts will serve no purpose,” SRSG Kay said. “We stand…
PARIS, France, December 5, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Schneider Electric (http://www.schneider-electric.com) announces that two projects in its BipBop (1) access to energy program have been chosen to participate in the “Africa Forum – 100 innovations for sustainable development” taking place in Paris on 4 and 5 December 2013. This forum was initiated by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, prompted by the Deputy Minister responsible for Development, Pascal Canfin, in partnership with the French Development Agency (AFD). Logo: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/logos/schneider_electric.jpg Photo: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/photos/mohammed_saad_president_africa_schneider_electric.jpg (Mohammed Saad, President Africa, Schneider Electric)The “Africa Forum – 100 innovations for sustainable development” aims to highlight innovative…
NAIROBI, Kenya, December 5, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — A team from Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa recently installed a new weather system at the Kenyan Military Airport in Nairobi.The team included U.S. service members from the J3 Meteorological and Oceanographic Office, J3 Special Operations Command and Control Element Weather System and Support Cadre and the 411th Civil Affairs Battalion.Before the new system was installed, the Kenyan Defense Forces relied on data from a civilian weather system which can be very time consuming.The system, officially called the TMQ-53 Tactical Meteorological Observing System, assists war planners and combat…
CAPE-TOWN, South-Africa, December 5, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — South African financial services group Sanlam (http://www.sanlam.co.za) announced today that it had opened its prestigious financial journalism awards to reporters across Africa for the first time. The group aims to recognise and celebrate the contribution journalists across the continent are making towards the African growth story. The Sanlam Awards for Excellence in Financial Journalism have been rewarding exceptional reporting in South Africa since 1974. Logo: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/logos/sanlam-1.jpgThrough a newly introduced award, Sanlam will award outstanding, in-depth reporting that highlights and contributes towards the economic rise of the continent. News value, rigour in…
ROME, Italy, December 5, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — World cereal production will reach a new high of almost 2 500 million tonnes, including rice in milled terms, according to new FAO estimates. The figure is almost 8.4 percent more than last year and some 6 percent above the previous record in 2011, according to the latest issue of the Crop Prospects and Food Situation Report. While global cereal production is expected to increase, FAO warned that food security conditions in several parts of Africa and elsewhere are deteriorating. In the Sahelian countries of West Africa – Chad, Mali, Mauritania,…
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, December 5, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Statement by H.E. Anne Mamakau Mutelo, Ambassador of the Republic of Namibia to Ethiopia, AU and UNECA at the PSC open session on women and children’s vulnerability in conflict situationsYour Excellency Ambassador of The Gambia and Chair of the PSC for DecemberYour Excellencies Members of the PSCYour Excellencies Distinguished Invited GuestsLadies and GentlemenI have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of Her Excellency Anne Namakau Mutelo, Ambassador of the Republic of Namibia to Ethiopia and Permanent Representative to the African Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for…